How to Bring My MacBook Pro Onto My Desktop

Sorting through all your applications to get to the Desktop is often burdensome.

The Mac OS X Desktop lets you view mounted media such as CD-ROMs and USB flash drives, but may also contain files and folders. Every Mac owner needs to access the Desktop periodically, but navigating through multiple open windows to reach it is challenging. Instead of wasting your time hunting, you can use a number of shortcuts on a MacBook Pro to bring OS X to the Desktop instantly.

Instructions

1. Press the "fn" key in the lower left corner of your MacBook Pro and the "F11" key in the upper right corner at the same time to go to the Desktop in OS X. Press the same keys again to return to your open applications.

2. Click the yellow minimize button in the upper left corner of each application window you have open to minimize them and view the Desktop. When you minimize an application, an icon for the program appears on the right side of the system dock at the bottom of your screen. Click the icon to return to the program. This method works best when you only have one or two windows open.

3. Use Expose to create a Desktop shortcut. Click the Apple button in the upper left corner of your screen and select "System Preferences." Click "Expose and Spaces" from the menu that appears. This launches a menu to configure Expose, a unique OS X feature that lets you create mouse-activated shortcuts in the corners of your screen. Choose a corner from the menu, select the corresponding drop-down menu and choose "Desktop." From there you can simply swipe your mouse pointer into that corner on your screen to view the Desktop. Swipe again to return to your open applications.

4. 

   Newer MacBook Pro models have a glass track pad with support for multi-touch gestures.

   Place four fingers on your MacBook Pro track pad and swipe upward to show the Desktop. Swipe downward to return to your programs. This gesture only works on newer models with multi-touch track pads.

References

• "Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual"

Resources

• Apple: Mac OS X Keyboard Shortcuts
• Apple: Support